The program has been offered since 1964. Financial support in this program is only available for those with a DVM. 

The Master of Science in Comparative Medicine is administered through the Section on Comparative Medicine, which is a division of the Department of Pathology at WFSM. The primary mission of the Section on Comparative Medicine is to provide an academic base for faculty who care for and/or who use animal models of human disease in programs of research designed to better understand problems of human health.

Integral to its mission is the Department's commitment to pre- and postdoctoral education and training in the areas of comparative medicine and molecular and cellular pathobiology. This mission is facilitated by the unique nature of our animal facilities and training faculty's expertise in working with animal models.

Major interests include cardiovascular disease and lipid metabolism, cancer biology and risk assessment, diabetes and obesity, behavioral biology such as depression and anxiety, women's health/reproductive medicine, nutrition, comparative pathology, and substance abuse.